Code Red: Bubonic
by DavidoffBrittonova
Summary: Tina Greer has come back from the dead to help Clark stay with his destiny, but who is the enemy this time. It will surprise you


Code Red: Bubonic  
By David B  
  
Sometimes, when you die, you don't necessarily go to Heaven or Hell, sometimes you're stuck in Limbo cause no one knows what to do with you, or do they. Set between Calling and the season finale, on tonight, I want to write this story about how not every person who can shapeshift are evil. (  
  
I also don't own Mystique of the X-men universe.  
  
OR Beorn the shapeshift from Robert Zelany's work, Need I go on? And unlike what Robert Tapert would like you to think, he doesn't own the Greek gods ,and neither do I, I'm just related to them.  
  
Prologue: Bloodied Son  
  
She floated in the cosmic nothingness for who knows how long, waiting to be sentenced to the fiery depths of Hell, I mean, where else does a murderer go when they die? She floated around until she hit a solid rock an asteroid if you will. She stood on the surface and looked around. There were ruins of buildings around and as she walked towards one, she felt something in her shift, and as she looked down, she saw her body changing faster than she could think. Finally it reverted back to it's normal form and she shook her head and walked further along the path, coming to a large temple that still looked like it was in working order. She saw words written in the side of it, and read them. "Temple of the shapeshifter." She thought to herself. "Okay, Tina, apparently Hell is a strange place after all." Laughter echoed around her, and a man appeared. He smiled. "No, this is not Hell, Tina Greer, this is Limbo. A place where people go who are not evil or good. In this building you will find what you need to know, and what will help you find peace, here in your heart and soul. He smiled and changed his form slightly. "My name is Beorn, the Shapeshifter. You might remember me from the works of Robert Zelany." Tina looked blank. "A series of books, very good ones too. Everything and everyone exists, in all universes and in this one. Don't strain your brain, but please, go in, please, learn how you are no more different than many others are.  
  
*&*&  
  
The door opened, and Tina walked in, feeling nervous. She walked towards a large platform, where two people were standing. One had blue skin, and the other was reading a book and spoke. "So, it's true you can imitate anyone, including their voice?" "Including their voice." The blue-skinned woman said in perfect imitation of his voice. The man fell silent, thinking in deep thought. Tina walked up to them, and the woman turned around. "Yes?" Tina thought she knew whom this woman was, but the memory was so far-gone that she couldn't place it. "I don't know you, but somehow I do." The woman looked irritated. "I don't like fans, it's hard enough having blue skin." Tina sympathized with that somewhat. She shifted her body differently and the woman nodded. "You are one of us, I see. I take it you too are wondering what you are doing here?" Tina nodded. "Yes, I don't have any idea why I'm here, I thought I'd be roasting in Hell." The woman nodded. "Fair enough assessment of what I thought when I awoke here. He's another one of our kind, albeit less human." The man turned his face toward them and smiled at Tina's reaction. "I am Death, Tina, I have already taken you here, you have nowhere further to go, until you receive your mission." "What is my mission?" Tina asked, wondering how she can be calm staring at a talking skeleton. Death smiled weakly. "It is not for me to say, it is something for you to see." He waved his hand, and what looked like a television set screen appeared .It displayed someone Tina knew very well and someone else knew almost personally. "I don't understand, what about Chloe and Lana?"  
  
"Although you did try and kill Lana once, and although you changed, you must be aware that Clark will someday make a choice between those two women, and that choice is the one you'll have to watch out for, because it will affect you as well. Chloe loves Clark as you may not know, but a human being can be driven to the edge of everything, by a simple act, this you know all too well, Tina. You will be sent back, to watch, and warn Clark of Chloe's slide into darkness. Keep in mind not to interfere more then you have to, all you need to do right now is keep Chloe alive and less than murderous towards Lana, which she is getting, day by day. Like you Tina, I care about Lana, more so because like her, I have a similar story about my life, or lack there of. Do not attack anyone, or you will find yourself in more pain than Clark is around Kryptonite. He has a destiny to fulfill, and it is up to you, Chloe, Lana and Clark, and even me to keep that destiny alive. Things must happen the way they do for a reason. If you fail, Hell will be a vacation spot. I am just and fair, but like God himself, I have a temper unequaled." Tina shivered, knowing that Death wasn't as mice as they wrote him up to be. Death smiled at this thought. "I am a God, Thanatos, Greek, I have been nearly forgotten, except by the last few Necromancers and Magick users. Do you agree?" Tina thought for a moment and realized it was at least a chance to apologize to Clark and Lana. "I agree, Death." Death nodded. "Let it be done now. "He waved a hand over her.  
  
Chapter 1: We don't know why  
  
Clark Kent looked at his baseball he had since he was a kid and threw it up in the air with a little more strength than normal. It bounced off his roof and then smacked him upside the head. A throaty chuckle made him spin around. "Oh, Lex, it's you. I've been jumpy lately." Lex smiled. "Hitting yourself with a baseball must be the Kent way of releasing stress." Clark smiled. "So, how's life been treating Joe Billionaire?" Lex laughed, "Well, Clark, I just was bored, so I thought I'd drop by and say hi." "Well, glad you dropped by, I was bored myself, finished my chores, nothing else to do, maybe I should take up jogging." Lex shrugged. "It's not a bad thing to do Clark, Jogging's fun. Just don't forget to drink plenty of water." Clark smiled. 'Yes, otherwise you end up as beef jerky for bears." Lex smiled. "Ah, Clark, you could probably jog a thousand miles before tiring." Clark smiled to himself knowing full well he could jog a distance equal to that of the diameter of the earth, and not get winded. Not that he was going to share that with Lex though, not now, and probably not ever. Pete would never forgive him if he did anyway. He shook it off as felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. Lex noticed something unusual as well.  
  
Lex looked around, and saw something out of the corner of his eyes. "Clark, what's that?" Clark looked, his vision adjusting to see a young woman lying in the field next to his house. "Um, I think it's a person, we better go check.  
  
Lex followed Clark outside and towards the fallen woman. Clark nearly stopped in his tracks as he recognized the woman. "Tina." Lex looked at him and said. "Pardon me for not believing this, but isn't she dead?" "Welcome to Smallvile, where the night of the living dead happens every day or so." Clark mused; this was weird, even for him. They walked closer, and Tina groaned. "What hit me." She looked up at Clark and Lex. "OH, shit. You guys aren't supposed to see me, I think." Clark stood a few feet away, and even Lex was hesitant to walk close to the woman who framed him for Bank Robbery and killed her own mother.  
  
Tina sat up on one hand and said. "Look, I know this is going to sound strange, but Death himself threw me back here. Something about protecting people. How's that for irony?" Clark nodded. "That would be considerable irony." He smiled. She groaned. "Clark, I'm sorry for what I did to you, and I'm sorry for what I did to Lana, and Lex, I'm sorry for framing you." Lex nodded. "Most people would be hesitant to trust you, but when you come back from the dead to say it, it usually makes people think you're more sincere." "George Romero could get his inspiration from me." Tina sighed and got up, and almost fell down again. "I think I must have impaled my backbone." Lex smiled. "You couldn't even get up if you did that." "True, but until you've been impaled on a sharp pole, you've felt no pain." Clark nodded at that.  
  
Lex looked at his watch. "Well, I hate to say this, but I've got to go, I just remembered a meeting." He left rather quickly. Tina sighed. "Fate seems to dealt me a pair of twos." Clark helped her up and said. "Well, then, care to explain more about why you suddenly appeared?" Tina sighed. "I needed to talk to you, and I found myself here." Clark let her back to the loft, and somehow felt less nervous being around her now than when she last talked to him, of course at that time, she had placed Lana's necklace around him and said she loved Lana. Clark sat down on a chair and said. "So, what's the afterlife like?" "Boring as hell if you're not good or evil. Don't look at me like that, I didn't pick my fate. You just dodged out of the way at the last moment." She smiled weakly, trying to show humor. Clark smiled. "True. So, what is the big thing that brought you back?" Tina sighed. "I can tell you only a little bit, Clark, only the part that involves you, you've got a big destiny coming up, and it's beyond important. I was sent here to make sure you never change from that destiny, and also to repair anything that goes wrong and I have had it with acting like the T-1000!" Clark nodded. "Okay, I believe you. Not everyday someone comes back from the dead, so, what do you need to know, I assume being dead tells you somethings." "Yes, but all Death himself said was that I had to protect your destiny from changing, and I definitely don't want to be roasting on a open fire." Clark thought about it. "Okay, well, I think you can kinda guess that." "I know you're an alien Clark, I'm not that dumb." Tina said, catching him by surprise.  
  
"I guess the whole getting sick by the meteorite rock kinda helped that theory, right?" "That and the fact you could stand up to me in a fight without even wearing down. Hell, Clark, I can bench-press a pickup truck." Clark nodded, knowing full well he could do more than just that. Tina sighed. "Look, Clark, if you don't want to tell me that's fine, but I think it's rather important, I mean I was brought back from the dead to protect your destiny, so, I kinda need to know somethings." Clark sighed and said. "This is going to be difficult to explain, I might need to show you it instead." She followed him to the storm cellar where she had imprisoned him, and where the ship had saved him. Clark looked at a certain covered object and pulled it off, revealing the space ship. Tina whistled. "Well, that explains why I couldn't hurt you." "Except for the meteorite rocks. Kryptonite, from my home planet." "Anything like the gas Krypton?" Clark shrugged. 'Never been near any gas, but I assume it would be no different than any other gases. This is kinda weird though, I mean, Pete's the only other one that knows, and he took it well, now I'm telling my former worst enemy." Pete's voice sounded from above them. "Hey, Clark, you better be down there." Clark choked out. "Wait, Pete! Don't." Pete walked down the steps and got a glimpse of a blur of movement, followed by Clark looking at the spaceship. "Hey, Clark, you sure it's okay to have it out in the open like this? Clark?" Clark sighed. "Pete, do you believe that some people can come back from the dead, and change completely?" "Hey, until Tina turned into Whitney, and I found out you were an alien, I didn't think anything was. OW!" He said as a piece of dirt smacked him on the chest. Tina walked out from behind the spaceship, looking like Clark. Pete looked at the two Clarks and said. "Whoa! Clark, this a new power? Please tell me that isn't?" Tina shifted into Pete and said. "You were saying, Pete?" "Ah, Man, Clark, you're not suppose to tell your worst enemy your secret! Why don't you start selling tickets down here then?"  
  
Clark sighed. "Pete, relax, it's not any worse than you think. Tina was sent back by Death himself to save my destiny, and I'm a pretty good judge of character, you know." "Yeah, well, I'd rather have you tell Lex, hell; I'd rather tell him! Clark, this is not good." Clark sighed and appeared behind Pete and shut the doors to the cellar. "Look, Pete, I'm not letting either of you leave until you work together on this. Look, I'm not a big fan of Night of the Living Dead, but at least she's not chewing on your brains." "Is that a valid option, because right now, I think she stole yours." Clark grumbled and said. "Pete, listen to me very carefully, do you see government agents bursting into here with meteorite rocks coming to take me away?" "NO, I don't, Clark." Pete rolled his eyes. "Look, Pete, do you trust me at all?" "Yeah, I trust you, but Clark, are you sure about this?" "Yes, I am. I do trust her now, and I have no reason not to. Now, are you going to work with us, or do I have to set you on fire?" He said while smiling.  
  
Pete sighed. "Well, considering I can't outrun you, yeah.I'll work with you guys. What do we do to preserve this destiny of yours anyway?" Tina suddenly pieced it all together. "Chloe! I just thought of something, Chloe, she saw you kissing last night." "Being dead has it's advantages I see." "Yes, tell me about it, she's the main reason, something she does could change all of this. We have to get to her." "She should be working at the torch, I'll go first." Pete said and started leaving. "Wait, Pete, I think we all need to go. It's the only way we're going to get through to her."  
  
*&*&  
  
Chloe was browsing Internet web sites, and she was rather upset, so she was searching for curses she could put on Lana, not that she would though. She didn't know the first thing about cursing people, other than swearing. "Some of these are funny, growing warts, growing a second and third head, hmm." She clicked on a link and blinked. "Hey, That can't be right." It had her name up on the website. "The Hell?" She said and started reading. At the end of the web page was a very odd language, she looked at it and suddenly it became clear. "Read this to learn all that you need." Chloe shook her head and checked the time; it was only 3:30 on a Saturday. She clicked the highlighted link and started reading something that somehow she understood. She finished reading the page and rubbed her eyes. Her vision grew blurry and she looked at the screen as it started twisting and melting, turning black while keeping the view on the webpage. She shook her head, and the vision still stayed. "Okay, LSD laced web pages, that's a great story to write." She reached out to her monitor and felt a red bolt of energy strike her. The pain was all encompassing and came and went in an instant. She dropped to the floor, groaning in pain. Then she felt herself change something inside her. She stood up and stared at the ruins of her monitor and waved a hand at it. The monitor instantly repaired itself. "Whoa!" She then thought of Lana, and her vision became red. "Maybe I can get rid of two birds with one stone." She thought and then walked out of the office, to collide with Pete and Clark. "OH, hey you two, how are you?" Clark looked at her and said. "You okay, Chloe?" "Hey, Never better, Clark, thanks for asking, it's about damn time you noticed me." The next words out of her mouth made Pete blush as Chloe saw Tina for the first time in a long time. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Even Clark jumped an inch or two, and knew something wasn't right. "Come on, Chloe, I think you need to go home." "Clark, I'm perfectly fine, but explain to me what the Nightmare of the Living Dead is doing here?" Clark x-rayed her and saw a red glow over her entire skeleton, much like the green glow over Tina's. "Chloe, please, calm down, we'll explain it all in time."  
  
Chloe pushed Clark's hand off her arm and said. "Don't get in my way, Tina, or I'll put you where you belong." "I don't think Chloe's herself, what do you say, Clark?" Chloe turned to Pete and pushed him hard, throwing him down the hallway fifteen feet. Clark caught up to her as she walked away and said. "Please, Chloe, get help, let us help you." "Piss off, Clark." She said and pushed him against a locker, denting it. "I'm going to take care of something I've been meaning to take care of for a long time, that little Ms. Perfect Lana." With that, she was gone, faster than even he could register.  
  
*&*&  
  
Lana was staring up at the sky, watching a storm build up, she had no clue that time was not on her side. She looked up as Chloe walked up the driveway. "Hi, Chloe, how are you?" Chloe smiled in a way that made Lana nervous. "Chloe, what's wrong?" "You are what's wrong, Lana, coming in between me and Clark, making my life so full of pain, well, no more, Lana, no more, and nothing is going to stop me this time." Chloe held up her left palm and raised it towards Lana. "Chloe, what are you doing." A red glow emanated from Chloe's hand and a beam of energy struck out and slammed Lana against the screen door. The blast was worse than being inside a tornado. It was at this moment, Clark showed up, out of thin air, and said "Chloe, please, calm down." He stood in her way and she growled. "You're not going to stand in my way Clark, if I can't have you no one will, and definitely not Lana." He still stood in her way, and she punched in square in the chest, he still stood. "What are you?" "Chloe, please, you're not yourself, please, relax, please, fight whatever this is!" Chloe punched and kicked Clark to no avail, Lana got back up, having only been knocked out for a small amount of time and ran in the house. Pete and Tina rolled up in Pete's truck and Pete said. "Come on, Chloe, come on, it's not fair to fight Clark." "I'll say, he's got some sort of invincibility!" Chloe punched Clark one more time, and then fell face forward. "TINA!" Tina shrugged. "I had to knock her out somehow, and I can't travel at the speed of light!" Lana came back outside, saw Chloe lying down on the ground, almost said something then she saw Tina. "OH my GOD!" She ran back inside. "Tina, maybe you should hide out for awhile?" "I think I will. My job is so complex." Lana looked through the window at Clark and said. "How is she still alive?" "Uh, well, she's not, and if you come out here, I'll tell you what the heck is going on."  
  
"I'm not going to like this, am I?" "Well, Pete knows, Tina's undead, so she doesn't count, and I think you really need to know." "I need to know what, Clark?" Clark took a deep breath and said. "I'm an alien." Lana stared at him for a minute and then said. "Clark, this is not the time for bad jokes." Clark sighed, he knew a demonstration was needed. Pete, you got a bat in that truck?" "Ah man, I wanted to keep that one. Alright, one moment." Pete walked over to his truck and picked up a baseball bat. Lana looked at him nervously. "What are you going to do?" Pete sighed. "Don't worry, he'll explain it." Clark sighed. "Look, you know your old necklace, the one that you used to wear?" "Yeah, what about it?" "Well, since it's made from a meteor rock, it affects me. It makes me sick. That's why Tina used it to hold me hostage." "I didn't know that. But what are you going to show me." Clark sighed. "Pete? Ready?" Pete shrugged. "It's up to you, Clark." Clark sighed. "Lana, those meteor rocks are the only thing that can affect me at all. Pete, go ahead." Pete hefted the bat and swung it at Clark. It shattered into dozens of pieces on impact. Lana jumped. "OH my God, Clark, are you okay?" She rushed towards him, but saw that he wasn't standing where he was. She heard his voice. "I'm fine." Lana saw Clark standing off to her side, behind where she was originally standing. "How did you." "Do that?" Clark said, hating his own déjà vu moment. Lana jumped and saw he was standing behind her again. "You really are an alien." Tina, silent up until now said. "Yes, he is. From the same planet as those meteor rocks." "Yeah, except the rocks are what remained of the planet." Clark looked bad. "I came down, in the shower, the one that killed your parents." He looked at the ground. Lana looked at him, and understood the situation finally. "Now I see, why you've been so hesitant to tell me this, you think I would hate you?" "Yeah, definitely." "I'm shocked, but I'm not angry, and I'm not hating you. But how did she get here in the first place?" She gestured to Tina. From a few feet away, a pair of boots, followed by a black coat, followed by a black hood appeared and a voice issued from them. "Well done, Tina Greer." A hand appeared, and motioned towards Chloe. Red energy lifted out of Chloe and dissipated towards the sky. "She is fine now, she will not remember anything for awhile. I cannot guarantee complete removal of her memories." "Then don't Death, please." Tina spoke up. Clark shivered despite the cold. Death looked at Clark. "This is what you want as well, I assume?" Clark nodded. "Let her remember it slowly, giving her time to adjust." Lana looked at the black clothing, holding literally nothing, and Death's voice spoke. "Laura says hi, Lana. They both were not terribly saddened at their passing, they knew their time would come. All things work out the way they want. Your mother was beautiful. Never forget that. Clark, from this day forward, you will understand something very few people understand. How love, and how destiny is entwined with it. I'd love to stay and chat, but I am Death you know. Never a dull moment." He sighed after no one said anything. "Laugh will ya, I don't have the ability to kill jokes!" Clark smiled. Death disappeared.  
  
The End, liked it, hated it, loved it, puked on it? Eh? Tell me at DavidB0002@aol.com 


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